The Muhraka Monastery

On the southeastern spur of Mount Carmel lies Muhraka meaning ‘the sacrifice” and is the traditional site of Elijah’s (Hebrew: Eliyahu, אליהו ; Arabic: Mar Elias) contest with the Prophets of Baal (I Kings 18:20-46). This episode takes place in the days of King Ahab and Queen Jezebel in the kingdom of Israel, who introduced the pagan cults.

At El-Muhraka is since 1883 a Carmelite chapel. An altar made of twelve stones stands at the centre of the chapel. From the platform of the Carmelite monastery one can see the sea and the Brook Kishon (I Kings 18:40), that runs at the bottom of the hill in the Jezreel Valley.